Exploring the Social and Solidarity Economy Sector in Greece, Spain, and Switzerland in Times of Crisis

Abstract

In the context of the recent economic crisis and rising inequality, interest in the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) as a viable alternative economic model has gathered pace in Europe. This article, based on an innovative content analysis approach of organizations’ websites from the LIVEWHAT project, provides a snapshot of the SSE sectors’ main features in three European countries, namely Greece, Spain, and Switzerland, to understand how the SSE is practiced in varying contexts, uniquely affected by the current economic crisis, as well as within diverse SSE origins. The findings shed some light on distinct features and similarities indicating that the Swiss SSE sector, in line with its interrelations with the Swiss market economy, shows a greater degree of formalization and professionalization that defines its management structure, main activities, types of beneficiaries, goals, and means to achieve them. On the contrary, the relatively recent expansion of the Greek SSE sector is intertwined with the economic crisis, which has left a critical imprint on the SSE’s management structure, activities, aims, and means of accomplishing them. The Spanish SSE sector’s main features, on the other hand, lie in-between the Greek and the Swiss ones, providing an amalgam of various features.